DUBAI — Iran expects to restore around 100 million cubic meters per day of natural gas production capacity within the coming months, a senior government official said on Monday according to the oil ministry’s Shana news outlet.
Attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure removed about 230 million cubic meters from output since the war started with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. Recent U.S. strikes on southern Iran, however, have not hit major energy sites.
Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, executive deputy to the president, said the lost capacity had amplified Iran’s existing gas supply imbalance, with national production previously standing at around 650 million cubic meters per day. He said restoring the lost capacity would help improve energy supply stability.
Iran is facing additional pressure on its energy system during the hot summer months, when rising electricity demand for cooling has contributed to power shortages and rolling outages affecting households and businesses.
The government has said it is seeking to manage consumption and expand electricity generation capacity to reduce pressure on the grid, notably by installing solar power capacity.
Ghaempanah said oil and gas workers had prevented the shutdown of energy facilities despite the attacks and that the government was working to maintain stable gas and electricity supplies, particularly for industrial and petrochemical production.
(Reporting by Dubai NewsroomEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
